Why no Bride in later movies?

[jerod]

Why didn't the Bride show up in later films? The Monster seemingly died in every movie but came back for the next encore and she was clearly cut from the same cloth. As a matter of fact all the "classic" figures (Dracula, Monster, Wolfman, Gill-Man, Invisible Man, Mummy, etc.) had sequels of some type. Why not the Bride?

Perhaps Elsa Lanchester didn't want to reprise the role. As eventually with Karloff, the Bride wouldn't have even had to remain Elsa Lanchester though. If the Studio wanted the character they could have recast like they did with other characters. Why couldn't other Universal women like Evelyn Ankers, or better yet Ilona Massey, step into the role?
I wonder if the issue was that she was female, and therefore not as important. Women generally had a lower societal place in the time period that encompassed the Golden Age of Universal horror. Would boys not be as interested in seeing more of the female monster and therefore wouldn't have been much of a theatrical draw?

The Bride is considered "Iconic" at this point as has often been represented in Universal merchandise since the 1960s. Just curious as to why shew wasn't as big a deal back when the movies were actually being made.

[Mike Scott]

Maybe they just didn't know what else to do with the character? The Monster wouldn't be much of a threat, dragging the little woman around with him.

[Mord]

 The idea of marriage might have been TOO much horror.

[frankenstein73]

there was The Bride 1985 with Sting.

[Dr. Madd]

I would have liked to see the Bride either involved with the Monster, or perhaps infatuated with the leading man, leading to a love triangle from Universal hell.

[neonnoodle]

I know why!  It was because she couldn't handle being a monster.  She freaked out!!

And I think it was also the whole "We built you for him, so now you have to hang out with this guy, over here" thing.  Being born into the clutches of a ghoulish postmortem dating service caused her to have her "hissy fit" and there you have it.

Great monster--and so beautiful too--but of too delicate composition to be a monster.

[Anthony Caranci]

Hello Monster lovers,

The Bride of Frankenstein isn't really that threatening a monster. When compared to other monsters in the Universal Horror Canon - she's actually quite beautiful. Her scars are almost "unnoticeable" unless you see her profile. What else could she do - besides run around and hiss at everyone?

It may have been a casting problem along with "what do we do with her?" It also could have been that Universal felt she served her purpose already. The original script of Son of Frankenstein has Wolf discovering the remains of the Bride and Dr. Pretorius's creations in the bottles, when he enters the laboratory. In the finished film - there is no mention of the Bride or Pretorius's creations.

Your thread does raise an interesting point though.   

[jerod]

Since I mentioned Ilona Massey as an option for a later Bride I figured I should make an image of her.
Here's what we may have missed out on:

[Haunted hearse]

Seems to me that Universal could have an opportunity to bring back the series, by having somebody discover the bride, which may have been buried in the explosion of the watch tower.  It could be interesting seeing how the Bride would react to being brought back to life in the 21st century.

[Anthony Caranci]

The photos are really nice Jerod. Excellent job!

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I've often wondered this. Glad someone thought of it.
My No-Prize for it would be that Dr Frankenstein intentionally didn't make her immortal like he did his first creation. However it would've been that he did that.

The original script of Son of Frankenstein has Wolf discovering the remains of the Bride and Dr. Pretorius's creations in the bottles, when he enters the laboratory. In the finished film - there is no mention of the Bride or Pretorius's creations.

This is the most interesting thing I've heard in a while.

[BigShadow]

She took half of the Monster's stuff and left.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I feel like the best reason as to why The Bride apparently died in the explosion but the first monster didn't would be that (learning from his mistakes) Dr Frankenstein intentionally made her mortal.